Road maps issued by lubricating oil companies - Other Countries

Kroon Oil, Rollsynol, Sun Oils, Super-Penn

Introduction

Although numerous examples of maps from lubricant (as opposed to petrol) companies are known from Britain, France and, to a lesser extent, Germany, few appear to have been produced in other European countries.

Kroon Oil (Belgium)

Kroon Oil is a Dutch independent lubricant manufacturer established in 1906 and based in Almelo, whose products are commonly found in car spares shops across Benelux. This map is a stock 1996 Falk-plan map of Belgium, with customised card covers for Kroon Oil; as the text in is in French and Flemish it was presumably produced for the Belgian market, possibly as an on-pack promotion. The rear cover shows its Emperol 5W40 motor oil. Image courtesy of Michel Breugelmans

Rollsynol (Ernst Hürlimann, Switzerland)

Rollsynol was the lubricant brand of Ernst Hürlimann of Wädenswil, Switzerland. Hürlimann became an early partner in the AVIA distributors' co-op, and still supplies a few hundred filling stations in Switzerland under the AVIA brand, although these days its oils are also branded AVIA not Rollsynol. This undated map probably comes from the 1950s. It was prepared for Hürlimann by Orell Füssli of Zurich. Image courtesy of Richard Horwitz

Sun Oils (Wodoil, Austria)

Sun Oil Co (Belgium) is the master licensee for Sunoco lubricants and other branded products in 80 countries world-wide, excepting the USA, Canada & Japan. It was incorporated on 4 April 1935 as Belgian Sun Oil Co and changed its name to the current title in 1956 and is a quarter owned by Sunoco Inc. (USA) through a Dutch intermediary holding company. Its status as an associate probably explains the unusual logo used on the map in the 1950s; today it uses the regular Sunoco sign.

The distributor for Sunoco products in Austria for more than 50 years has been Wodoil GmbH (formerly K. Wodrazka & Co.) of Vienna (Wien), and it was this Austrian company that issued the map shown below in association with Belgian Sun Oil Co and Sun Oil Co itself.

This is described on the cover in English as being a Souvenir Map of Salzkammergut, Austria, showing Bad Ischl-Strobl, scene of the International Boy Scouts Jamboree, 1951: 3-13 August. "A hearty welcome to all delegates." Inside the map was a scenic panorama of the region with descriptions of excursions in English, German and French. The rear cover carries an advert for Sun Oils. Scout Jamboree maps are known from a couple of companies in the USA including Carter, but no-other examples have been located from Europe. Image courtesy of Richard Horwitz

Super-Penn (Belgium)

Nothing is known about Super-Penn lubricants, other than that cans bearing the name turn up very occasionally and around 1953 they sold this road map of Belgium for 15Fr.

The map itself is pasted to a thick paper cover (similar to the ARA map but slightly bigger). It is by Etabl. Gen. d'Imp. from Brussels, like the ARA map. In the lower left corner is a large section with a promotional text which reads 'super-penn, la reine des penn, plus de kilomètres pour moins d'argent'. The back cover also contains advertising in French. Image courtesy of Michel Breugelmans

No other lubricant company maps from Austria are known. A Sinclair Opaline map of Switzerland is shown on the Sinclair page, but no other lubricant maps are known from countries except Britain, France and Germany, although some are likely to exist; if you know of any, please send me an e-mail. Potential brands include Cepsa and Repsol from Spain before the petrol market was liberalised, Beverol, Deluxol and Olio Fiat/Selènia.